Gujarat Elections: 'Mini-African' Village Gets Special Polling Booth For The First Time

A special tribal booth has been set up for the first time in Jambur, a 'mini-African' village, as Gujarat goes for its first phase of polling on Thursday.

A visual by ANI shows how people of Gujarat's mini African village- Jambur, celebrated their first opportunity to vote in their own special tribal booth.

Speaking to reporters, people from the Siddhi tribal community expressed their joy at having the first-ever opportunity of voting in the state despite living there for years. 

"Our forefathers are from Africa and we came to India many years ago. When the fort was being built in Junagadh, our forefathers came here for work, First, we settled in Ratanpur village and then gradually settled in Jaanwar village. We have got the status of Siddhi tribal community," said a senior citizen, according to the report by ANI. 

Although they said that the government keeps helping the tribals, but the local community still suffered as they don;t receive too many facilities.

"We have talked to the government regarding the local problems and have given it in writing too. But our community is a tribe here and everyone follows their own path. That's why there is a problem. They defame the government without any reason," they further said.

Voting for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state is all set to begin from 8 am today where 788 candidates are in the fray.

Campaigning for the first phase of the elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state ended at 5 pm on Tuesday.

Voting will be held between 8 am and 5 pm on Thursday across 14,382 polling stations, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said in a release.